Gotta Go My Own Way
by hsm-fan001-Cornique Supporter
Summary: Sharpay has a plan.  It backfires.  Sharpay has a second plan.  It backfires...well, kinda. TG, TS, GR, TOC, OCOC.  Chapter 9 up now! Please read and review!  :P tee hee hee
1. What About Us?

5

"As all of you know, it is indeed the last day of school. I usually don't do this but, I feel that it is needed for those few who have forgotten," Ms. Darbus, the drama teacher announced, glancing in the direction of Troy Bolton, Gabriella Montez, and Ryan and Sharpay Evans. She still remembered the day earlier in the year right after Winter Break. Someone's cell phone had gone off in class and she gave six people detention for it. "Now, before I hear another one, take this time to turn off your cell phones!"

Ms. Darbus was shocked when almost every single person in the room took their cell phones out of their pockets. As soon as everyone had taken their phones out, the last bell rang. Screaming and cheering was heard down every hall as the doorways out of East High School became packed with students.

Ms. Darbus realized her mistake. "Nevermind." It was a roller coaster effect that no teacher in the school could stop as every single kid raced out the door.

Troy Bolton was just walking out of the classroom when he heard a voice behind him. "So, watcha doing this summer?" Troy turned around. It was his best friend, Chad Danforth.

"Well," Troy started, "my dad wants me to get a job a Lava Springs Country Club, so…" Troy stopped talking as he looked over to his friend to see his eyes wide. "What?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Chad replied. "It's just…my parents, uh, want me to get a, um, job there too. I-I just though it would be, uh, cool to, you know, uh, work together."

"Oh, uh, OK. Yeah, yeah it would be cool to work together." Troy said, trying to sound as casual as possible. He knew something was up with Chad. _There has to be something he's not telling me, _he thought to himself. Trying not to sound to obvious, Troy let it pass. _When he wants me to know, he'll tell me._

"Yeah," Chad said. "And don't worry if things don't work out about that job."

_Now that's crossing the line. How would he know that things might not work out?_ Troy thought as Taylor McKessie, Chad's girlfriend, walked by. She stopped to kiss Chad on the cheek.

"Hey, Chad. Do you wanna practice that skit that Ms. Darbus gave us to work on over the summer? I think we especially need to work on this part." Taylor said, winking. When Chad read the script, an ear-to-ear smile spread across his face. Troy decided to ask him how he knew about the job.

"Wait, what're you -" Troy began.

"Gotta go!" Chad interrupted as he followed Taylor, still smiling.

"Talking…about…"sighed Troy, finishing his question. All of the sudden, he felt a hug around the neck from behind him and a voice said, "Hey!" It was Gabriella Montez, Troy's girlfriend.

"Hey!" Troy said. "I've been meaning to talk to you. Do you have any plans for this weekend?" _Please say no, please say no!_ Troy repeated in his head.

"No, why?" Gabriella questioned.

"Just wondering. You like PB&J, right?" Troy asked.

"Of course. Troy, tell me why!"

"It's a surprise! Just go to the park Saturday afternoon at about…one o'clock.

"Why Saturday?" Gabriella questioned, even though she was really too excited to care. "Today is only Tuesday."

"Uh, I'm busy the rest of the week," said Troy, trying to think up an excuse. "My dad wants me to do basketball stuff."

"Troy, is your dad ever gonna let you go?" Gabriella said, rolling her eyes. _When will his dad realize that there's more to life than basketball?_, she thought to herself.

"I doubt it," Troy said. As was traditional at East High, a song played over the intercom. And every year, the students would really get into the song, including Troy, Gabriella, Ryan, Sharpay, Chad, and Taylor. Only this time, they had a song to sing…

**Everybody**

_"What time is it?_

_Summertime! It's our vacation!_

_What time is it?_

_Party time! That's right, say it loud!_

_What time is it?_

_The time of our lives! Anticipation!_

_What time is it?_

_Summertime! School's out, scream and shout!"_

**Troy**

_"Finally summer's here, good to be chillin' out!_

_I'm off the clock, the pressure's out!_

_'Cuz now my girl's what it's all about!"_

**Gabriella**

_"Ready for some sunshine, for my heart to take a chance!_

_I'm here to stay, not movin' away,_

_Ready for a summer romance!"_

**Troy and Gabriella**

_"Everybody ready, goin' crazy, yeah we're out!_

_C'mon and let me hear you say it now, right now!"_

**Everybody**

_"What time is it?_

_Summertime! It's our vacation!_

_What time is it?_

_Party time! That's right, say it loud!_

_What time is it?_

_The time of our lives! Anticipation!_

_What time is it?_

_Summertime! School's out, scream and shout!"_

**Sharpay**

_"Goodbye to rules, no summer school!_

_I'm free to shop 'til I drop!"_

**Ryan**

_"It's an education vacation!"_

**Sharpay and Ryan**

_"And the party never has to stop!"_

**Sharpay**

_"We've got things to do_

_We'll see you soon!"_

**Ryan**

_"And we're really gonna miss you all"_

**Sharpay**

_"Goodbye to you and you"_

**Ryan**

_"and you and you"_

**Sharpay and Ryan**

_"Bye bye until next fall!_

_Everybody ready goin' crazy yeah we're out_

_C'mon and let me hear you say it now, right now!"_

**Everybody**

_"What time is it?_

_Summertime! It's our vacation!_

_What time is it?_

_Party time! That's right, say it loud!_

_What time is it?_

_The time of our lives! Anticipation!_

_What time is it?_

_Summertime! School's out, scream and shout!"_

**Troy and Gabriella**

_"No more waking up at 6 a.m.,_

_'Cause now our time is all our own!"_

**Sharpay and Ryan**

_"Enough already_

_We're waiting, come on._

_Let's Go-o-o!_

**Everyone**

_"Out of control!_

_Alright!_

_Everybody!_

_Yeah!_

_C'mon!_

_School pride, let's show it! (show it)_

_Champions, we know it! (know it)_

_Wildcats are the best!_

_Red, white and gold!_

_When it's time to win, we do it! (do it)_

_We're number one, we proved it! (proved it)_

_Let's live it up, party down_

_That's what the summer's all about!_

_What time is it?_

**Gabriella**

_"Summertime is finally here!"_

**Everyone**

_"Let's celebrate!"_

**Troy and Gabriella**

_"Wanna hear you loud and clear now!_

**Everyone**

_School's out!_

**Chad and Taylor**

_We can sleep as late as we want to!_

**Everyone**

_It's our time!_

**Sharpay and Ryan**

_Now we can do whatever we wanna do_

**Everyone**

_What time is it?_

_It's summertime!_

_We're lovin' it!_

_Come on and say it again now!_

_What time is it?_

_It's party time!_

_Let's celebrate!_

_The time of our lives!_

All the students were still in the hallways, especially Troy and Gabriella to finish their conversation.

Suddenly, a blond-haired girl walked by, wearing all pink and leaving a wake of perfume behind her. Troy found himself getting lightheaded as Sharpay Evans walked by. This was not because of the perfume, he knew that for sure. Troy then started having an unexpected debate with himself inside his head.

_Just admit it, Troy. You know you like her._

_I can't like her though. I like Gabby._

_But you've liked Sharpay longer. You've known her longer._

_That was until I met Gabby. _

_Troy, just follow her. You know you can't resist her._

_But I have to resist! I can't cheat on Gabriella._

_Just go! Make up some excuse. Tell Gabriella you'll call her tomorrow!_

Troy was forced to go with the last choice. He couldn't resist.

"What are you looking at?" Gabriella questioned, as she saw her boyfriend staring the way of Sharpay's departure.

Troy snapped back into reality. "Uh, nothing. Gotta go. See you later. Bye." Troy said, kissing Gabriella on the cheek so that she knew that he still liked her.

"Troy, where are you going?"

"Home!" Troy yelled over his shoulder back at Gabriella. "I'll call you tomorrow!"

_What?_ Gabriella thinks to herself. _He's not going home, the door is the other way. He's totally following Sharpay. Something's up._ _Maybe Chad will know something about it. Troy tells him everything._


	2. What About Everything We've Been Through

As Gabriella walked down the hall, she noticed how empty the school was in the summer. The only noises that she heard were her own footsteps and laughing. _Who in the world is laughing? I don't see anybody in the hallway!_ Gabriella walked down the hallway as the laughing got louder. She put her ear to the door of an abandoned classroom. She heard the distinctive laughter of Chad and Taylor in the room. Looking in the small, tinted window in the door, she saw indeed Chad and Taylor in it. They were standing on opposite sides of the room, talking. It was obvious that they were practicing the skit Ms. Darbus had given them. Suddenly, they ran to each other and it looked like they were about to kiss. Wanting to see what they would de if she stopped them before they actually kissed, rolling her eyes, but smiling to herself, she knocked loudly on the door just before their lips met.

"Hey! Chad! Taylor!" Gabriella yelled while ramming on the door.

Chad and Taylor looked up, looking surprised. Chad, looking embarrassed, opened the door. Taylor was even more embarrassed than her boyfriend was.

"Hey Gabby," Chad said.

"Did you guys forget about the fact that there is a window in every door? Do you realize how lucky you are that I was the one to find you and not a teacher?" Gabriella asked.

"Yeah, to both questions. Not to sound rude or anything, but why are you here?" asked Taylor. Even though she tried to hide it, Gabriella could tell in Taylor's voice that they wanted her to leave.

Ignoring her friend's rudeness, Gabriella answered, "Something's up with Troy. I know it. Do either or you know anything?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, one minute he was asking me if I like turkey. Then the next minute, Sharpay walks by and he stares at her and doesn't want to be around me. He said he was going home and that he'd call me tomorrow."

"Taylor, meeting. Gabby, you stay here for a minute." Chad said as he grabbed Taylor's hand and pulled her into a nearby corner. Once Chad was sure that Gabriella was not listening, he started to talk to Taylor about what has been concerning him ever since Troy met Sharpay. "You and I both know what's going on. Obviously," Chad began, but saw Gabriella trying to listen in and lowered his voice. "Obviously, Troy likes Sharpay, but is too confused about his feelings to tell her."

"Her being?" Taylor asked.

"Gabriella and Sharpay. He likes both of them, but he doesn't know how to tell either of them," Chad explained.

"Why not?" Taylor asked, still not understanding.

"Taylor, be sensible. Gabriella is Troy's girlfriend. It would be like me telling you that I liked someone else, but I still liked you. You'd be crushed right?" Chad asked as Taylor nodded. "And I wouldn't want to do that. No guy would."

"Are you trying to say that you like someone else?" Taylor asked playfully.

"No! Of course not! I love YOU, Taylor. No one else. I swear." Chad replied, shocked.

"Just checking," Taylor said. "Gabby should be getting suspicious by now. What do we tell her?"

"The same thing that Troy told her," Chad answered.

"Troy didn't tell her anything,"

"Exactly! We tell her nothing! She's bound to find out anyway, but it's better if it's not from us. She'll want to hear it from Troy. She won't believe anyone else."

"Unless they have proof," Taylor suggested.

Realizing that his girlfriend was right, Chad said, "Well, no one has proof of anything yet, so it doesn't matter. Now, let's go talk to Gabriella before she comes over here."

They walked over to Gabriella. Taylor was the first to speak.

"Sorry we took so long. Neither of us knows anything about what's going on."

"Nothing at all?" Gabriella looked worried. "Chad, didn't he tell you anything?"

"No, sorry Gabby." Chad said, wanting to offer a piece of advice. "Just wait for him to call you tomorrow. Maybe he'll explain everything."

"Maybe. Thanks, Chad!" Gabriella said as she hugged Chad around the middle. Seeing the look on Taylor's face, however, she released him. "Sorry."

As Gabriella walked out the double doors, Taylor realized something that could play a very important part in this observation. "Chad, do you have any evidence, anything Troy said that would give you the idea that he would ever go out with Sharpay?"

"No," Chad said. "He didn't say anything except for the fact that he wanted to go out with her."

"CHAD, why didn't you say that earlier?" Taylor asked, shocked that Chad would forget something that important.

"I was kidding! I kid, I kid," Chad said as he playfully pushed Taylor's shoulder back.

Taylor only scoffed and rolled her eyes. "That's not funny!" she said as she walked out the door.

Suddenly, there was a click and the lights in the school went out, all at once.

"Uh, oh." Chad said. "The last thing I want to do is be stuck in the school for the whole summer. I have plans with Taylor!" he said, running out the door.

At the Bolton household, an argument was breaking out between father and son.

"Troy, you really need this job!" Jack Bolton, Troy's father snapped.

"But, Dad," Troy argued. "I have plans with Gabriella!"

"I understand that, Troy, but is there any way that you can reschedule with her? The only time I can go to the country club is tomorrow at one."

"But, Dad, I-"

"I don't want to hear it," Jack interrupted. "Call your friend and tell her you'll have to reschedule. There's only one day you can apply, but you have the whole summer to spend with your detention buddy. I don't want her to interfere with your priorities."

Troy still got angry when he heard Gabriella being called his "detention buddy", but he knew that it was the end of the discussion and there was no use arguing. "Yes, sir. I'll call her now,"

Disappointed, Troy climbed slowly up the spiral staircase and walked down the hall to his room. Gabriella's cell phone woke her from her nap with a jolt. As tired as she was, she was happy to see the name on the caller ID.

"Alright Troy, what's going on?" Gabriella asked, assuming that he would know that she was talking about the day before. That, however, was not the answer she got…

"I have to reschedule with you. My dad wants me to apply for a job tomorrow at one at Lava Springs Country Club. That's the only time I'll have."

"Really? What job?" Gabriella asked, even though she didn't really care. She just wanted to talk to him.

"Not sure." Troy said. "I guess I'll have to see what they need."

Gabriella was annoyed now. She didn't care about Troy getting a job; she cared about what was up with Troy and Sharpay. "That's nice, Troy. But when I said, 'What's going on?' that wasn't what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?"

"I meant about yesterday. You were talking to me about turkey, then Sharpay walks by and you didn't want to be around me anymore. Is there anything going on between you guys?"

Troy was shocked for two reasons: First, he couldn't believe that Gabriella would ask that, and second, how she had known about his secret. He decided not to tell her, just to be on the safe side. "Of course not! How could you even think that! I can not believe you!"

"I'm sorry! It's just what it seemed! It was just on my mind and I had to know!" Gabriella answered, shocked by the same thing. _Why the heck did I ask him that? I'm his girlfriend!!!_

"Oh, ok. There is absolutely nothing going on between us." Troy said. _Yet._ He made sure that he kept that last word to himself.

"Good. 'Cuz you had me worried for a minute." Gabriella said, relieved. At least she got that off her chest. Nonetheless, Troy was suddenly very calm. She decided to let it pass. It was getting late and she wouldn't worry about it.

As if Troy had read her mind, he said, "Well, it's getting late. I better go. I can't miss that job application tomorrow."

"Maybe I'll see you there. My mom just told me that she wants to go there to do something tomorrow around one-thirty. That would be cool if we met each other there."

"Yeah it would be. Well, hopefully see you tomorrow. Bye Gabby,"

"Bye, Troy," Gabriella said as she hung up. It would be nice to see Troy there tomorrow, considering that she hadn't seen him all summer. Even though it had only been three days, it seemed like and eternity to Gabriella.

Saturday came up fast and before he knew it, Troy was walking through the revolving doors into Evans' country club. _I wonder who to ask about this job, _he thought. Looking around, he saw a girl that was organizing brochures in a stand near a wall. She had blond hair and looked about Troy's age. Looking over at the front desk, he saw a bowl of pretzels open to the guests. Now that he though about it, he hadn't eaten lunch yet. He grabbed a few pretzels out of the bowl and started snacking on them as he approached the girl. He noticed a familiar-smelling perfume as he got closer to her. He recognized it right away as Sharpay's. He discarded the fact, however. _Lots of people have the same perfume, _he realized.

Walking up beside her, he said, "Excuse me." The pretzel that he had in his mouth fell out as the girl turned to face him, however. He was right about whom the perfume had belonged to.

"Troy Bolton! At my country club! Where are the cameras?" Sharpay asked as she spotted Troy behind her.

"Hey, Sharpay. What do you mean your country club?" Troy asked.

"Didn't you know? My father is president! Duh!" Sharpay said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Out of all the families that own a country club, I had to pick yours." Troy said.

"Well, I guess you're just lucky that you did," said Sharpay, and Troy could tell that there was a hint or flirting in her voice. He started to get worried. "What are you doing here anyway, Troy?"

"Oh, well, my dad wanted me to get a job here. What do you have that I could take?" Troy asked, taking a step back as Sharpay got closer. Half of his mind wanted him to stay right where he was and let her advance, but the other half wanted to back up. He wasn't in a flirtatious mood today.

"I don't know. I'll go ask my dad. Why don't you come with me?" Sharpay asked. Troy followed. Sharpay went into a small room. It had a vending machine in it, and a few small, round tables, but there wasn't much else. Sharpay's dad was definitely not in the room.

"Why did you bring me in here?" Troy asked.

"Oh, I though my dad would be in here. He always is."

Troy doubted that, but he played along. "What does he do in here anyway?"

"Oh, this is like a little break room, I guess you could call it. All of the employees come in here to hang out. I don't see why, there's not much in here."

"That's for sure." Troy said as he started to get really hot. What was it about this room that was so hot? He had to cool off. He had to take his shirt off or something, but Sharpay was right there. Of course, it wouldn't matter. Besides, he wanted to show off his muscles, but that would probably make her like him even more. He didn't care. "Hey, do you mind if I take my shirt off? It's really hot in here for some reason."

"Sure, no problemo. I don't know why it's so hot in here. It's usually pretty comfortable to me. But, yeah. Go ahead. I'll try to turn the heat down." Sharpay said with a smirk, getting the idea that Sharpay had turned the heat up in the first place.

As Troy was taking his shirt off, out of the corner of his eye, he caught Sharpay staring at him. "What?"

Sharpay snapped back as she realized what she was doing. "Uh…was I staring at you?"

"Yeah," Troy said as he felt his cheeks getting hot. He both felt and heard the air coming on, but he didn't care. He didn't really feel like putting his shirt back on. He had just taken it off. "Why were you staring at me anyway?" Troy already knew the answer, but he just felt like he had to ask.

"Well, I just was thinking how much we need a lifeguard. Are you up for it?" Sharpay said, not giving Troy the answer that he thought he would get. However, her flirting voice had come back.

"I don't know, Shar. I mean, it would be torture to see all those girls in their bathing suits every day. And you would especially be torturous to look at in a bikini."

Sharpay scoffed, but smiled. She started getting closer to him, and he quickly put his shirt back on. "Can we go back out now?"

"Sure," Sharpay said. "There's nothing in the room to see anyway." Troy heard her say under her breath, "Anymore."

As they exited the room, they walked toward the front desk. Sharpay handed him a yellow sheet of paper with an application on it. "Here you go," she said.

"Wait a minute. I never said that I would take the job." Troy said, smiling. He knew that he was flirting with Sharpay, but he never thought of it as flirting. It was just really fun.

"No, but you implied it."

"Did I? Well, I haven't stated my requirements yet."

Rolling her eyes, Sharpay played along. "What are they Mr. Bolton?"

"Is your bathing suit one or two piece?" Troy asked.

"Two. You already guessed that it was a bikini. But Troy, what does that have to do with anything?"

"What color?"

"Pink, of course. You should have known that!"

"I did. Just making sure. Can I see it?" Troy said, smiling.

Sharpay went to the back room, still not understanding what this was about. A few minutes later, Sharpay came out with a hot pink bikini embedded with diamonds and rhinestones. Troy smiled. "How often do you come to the pool?"

"Every day. Who wouldn't?"

"Then I'll take the job. I think I can handle seeing you in that bikini every day." Troy said with a smile.

"Oh please, you'd love to see me in this thing every day. That's why you took the job."

"True, but I needed it anyway. I figured that I'd take one that I'd like."

Suddenly, Sharpay thought of something that Troy obviously forgot about, as he was flirting with her. If this worked as she was planning it, things would be different when Troy walked out of that country club when this was over.


	3. What About Trust?

"Didn't you have plans with Gabriella right about now?" Sharpay asked, getting closer to him.

"How did you know about that?" Troy asked.

"Ryan told me," Sharpay said, getting even closer. _Note to self, _Troy thought, _Get Ryan the next time you see him._ He wanted to run away from Sharpay. Looking at his watch, he remembered that Gabriella was supposed to come around this time. The last thing he wanted was for Gabriella to see him getting close to Sharpay, and, by the looks of what she was trying to do, kissing her. When he backed up, however, he felt a solid wall behind him. "I know you must be awfully sad that you had to cancel with Gabriella," Sharpay continued. "But if you ever need a shoulder to cry on, I'm here for you, Troy."

"Thanks, Sharpay," Troy said, feeling a bead of sweat running down his face. He gulped. "I'll remember that." Sharpay being this close to his body was somehow uncomfortable, but somehow it felt right. He could feel a lump in his throat. He could barely swallow. Or breathe.

"Troy, you've always been a good boy, haven't you?" Sharpay was getting even closer, putting him in a trance by staring straight into his eyes.

"Uh, I guess," Troy choked out.

"Wouldn't you like to do something bad for once, something you know that is so wrong, it feels right?"

"I…uh…I…um…" Troy stammered. _I'm totally falling into her trap. But I can't help it, it's like I have to. How does she do that? _Troy thought as Sharpay moved closer so that their lips were about an inch away. _I want to kiss her so badly, but it would be wrong. I can't betray Gabby like that. And yet…No! I can't do it! I'm not gonna cheat on Gabby. But I want to kiss her so bad! C'mon, Troy! Get a grip! Resist, resist! You have to!_

"Come on, Troy, you know you want to do it," Sharpay said, as if she could read his mind.

He leaned in closer to kiss her, about to do it, but changed his mind in the process, moving his lips closer to her ear. He whispered, "Oh, I know I do, too. But the thing is, kissing you would mean cheating on Gabriella, and I'm not that kind of person." Troy managed to say. Half of him meant it, but half of him didn't. He had to go with the first half. He could not do that to a girl. Pushing Sharpay away, he saw her bottom lip tremble as she looked at him with puppy-dog eyes. _She is so good at that! How did she know that puppy-dog eyes just win me over? _Troy thought as he started to feel sorry for her. He wanted to give her a hug, but would that give her the idea that he liked her? He liked her anyway, and she knew it. I wouldn't matter. But if Gabriella walked in on them, then she would think the worst. He gave her a very quick hug anyway, whispering in her ear, "Maybe when I don't have a relationship with anyone else. I promise." That made her stop pouting instantly, but Troy was starting to think that he had given her an idea. And the wrong one.

What Troy didn't know was that Gabriella had come in to the country club right when Sharpay had started flirting with him. She had seen the whole thing. She wasn't sure that Troy had really liked her until then. She had gone home the happiest person in the world after she heard what Troy had to say. She couldn't believe that he had stood up to her like that. As soon as she got home, she called Kelsi. Kelsi had become one of her best friends ever since the school musical. Gabriella usually called her for help, but she had to know this.

"Hello?" Kelsi's voice sounded from the phone.

"Hey. You will not believe this!"

"What happened?" Kelsi asked. She seemed interested.

"OK, you know how Troy asked me what I was doing today at one."

"Yeah."

"Well, yesterday, he called me and said that he would have to reschedule with me because his dad wanted him to apply for a job at Evans' Country Club."

"Isn't that place owned by Sharpay and Ryan's parents?"

"Yeah," Gabriella said. "Anyway, my mom said that she wanted to go around the same time. So I was all excited and told him it would be cool if we met each other there."

"Naturally," Kelsi said.

"Yeah, so I got there a little earlier that I had told him, hoping he would be there by then. Well, he was there, but guess who else was there flirting with him?"

"Sharpay?" Kelsi said, taking a wild guess.

"Yeah. It made me really mad, so I waited to see what he would do. I was watching them for about 20 minutes, when it looked like Sharpay was trying to kiss Troy. That made me really upset, but, you know, I still wanted to know what he was gonna do. Then Sharpay said, 'You know you want to," and then here's the best part of all. Troy said, 'Oh, I know I do too, but kissing you would mean cheating on Gabriella, and I'm not that kind of person.' Oh my gosh! How sweet is that? I never really knew how much he liked me until then!"

"Wow, that is really sweet. Not many guys would pass up the chance to kiss Sharpay. And I though that Troy would be the last person to resist, you know, since he likes her and all."

"What?!" Gabriella asked, appalled.

"Uh, nothing. I was just talking to myself."

"No you weren't! You said that Troy liked Sharpay! Is that true?"

"Gabriella, I've never told a lie in my life, and today won't be the day that I'm gonna break that promise. Troy did tell me that he liked Sharpay a few days ago, but think about it. If he meant what he said back at the country club, he likes you a lot more than he likes Sharpay. Be sensible."

"Yeah, I guess I was getting mad for no reason. I knew what he had to say, and obviously he meant it, but still, he likes her. And that could change a whole relationship."

"True, but maybe you should wait and see what happens with him in the next few days, because he still doesn't know that you saw him."

"No doubt that he'll call me sometime, so I'll see what he says."

"Good idea, Gabby. See, you didn't really need my help."

"No, but I wanted to tell you what Troy said."

"And I'm glad that you did. That was really sweet of him. And now you know that he's not the kind of person that cheats on people."

"Yeah. Thanks, thanks a lot. But right now, I've got some unfinished business to do."

"What's that?"

"I'm gonna go give Miss Evans a piece of my mind." Gabriella declared, a triumphant smile slowly creeping across her face. Even though she was smiling, Kelsi could very clearly hear the hatred in her voice.

"You know, I don't think that's a very good…" Kelsi started, knowing what might happen to her friend, but she heard the click and the dial tone of someone hanging up a phone and knew that her advice would be pointless.

As Gabriella reached Sharpay's house at 9:00 the next morning, she thought about what she was actually going to do. She knew she couldn't just walk in her house and start yelling at her, she'd kick Gabriella out. But that is really the only thing that she could do. She got out of her car and walked up to the door. _Sharpay's house is huge! Who could afford all of this?!?_ Gabriella though as she stared in amazement at the Evans's house.

It wasn't really a house, more of a mansion, but Gabriella could tell that the house didn't have everything. The front was pretty normal, except for the wall-sized windows surrounding the door. Looking inside one of the windows, Gabriella saw a living room that would be a surprise if a king walked in. Four long, tan, couches lined the wall, sitting neatly atop a cream and tan colored carpet encircling the living room and each one of them had a different engraving sewed into the fabric: the one farthest away from Gabriella was a couch that had "Ryan Evans" printed on it in green lettering. The couch next to it had "Sharpay Evans" printed in hot pink on it. The next two couches had only the last names visible because someone had walked in front of them, walking toward the door. Gabriella shook her head to wake herself up from this dream, but realized that it was all real. Suddenly, a blond-haired figure unlocked and opened the door, letting a rush of warm air, smell of fresh air, and the sounds of nature into the house from outside.

"Gabriella?" Ryan said in amazement. "What are you doing here?" He was in his pajamas, green plaid pants with a shirt on that said, "Don't be jealous just because I'm smarter than you." _Suiting,_ Gabriella thought, smiling and shaking her head. "What?" Ryan asked.

"Just reading your shirt," Gabriella said.

"Yeah, well, it was hard to find. Do you want to come inside?"

"Sure," Gabriella said, taking a step inside the mansion in front of her. "I'm sure that shirt was hard to find,"

"No really, it was. Took me forever to get to a place that had one."

"Really?" Gabriella said sarcastically.

"Oh yeah, I found time to read a whole Harry Potter book while we were in the car!"

"Oh really?" Gabriella said with a small grin on her face. "Which one?"

"Prisoner of Azkaban." Ryan said with a triumphant smile.

"Wow. I can't even read that fast." Gabriella admitted.

"OK, when you can do something better than Gabriella Montez, you know you're good." he said, smiling.

"Not necessarily," Gabriella said, moving closer to him

Gabriella smiled, but couldn't dare to look into the eyes of the smiling boy in front of her. Suddenly, she realized what she was doing. _Am I flirting with Ryan Evans? I can't be! But I am. I never thought that this day would come._ She decided to go with everything she believed: that she was flirting with Ryan, that she liked him, and all that other stuff. She met Ryan's gaze for only a minute, but that minute was enough. She got butterflies in her stomach, and she only partly knew why. She just thought that the butterflies were a coincidence. Well, at least she hoped they were. _I don't like Ryan! I can't like him like that. And I don't…do I?_ Gabriella said to herself, even though she knew the truth. Even though she denied it, she knew that she couldn't avoid it. She wasn't sure if it was true or not, but she knew that she needed to find out.

"You know, if you really put your heart into it, I'm sure you could excel in every single one of your classes, and not just drama. I could tutor you if you want." Gabriella admitted. She knew that if he agreed, then she could tutor him. Thus, she would be able to find out for sure if she liked him or not.

"Yeah I know, but drama is really what I'm mainly focused on. Nothing else is really that important to me."

Suddenly, another blonde-haired figure walked behind Ryan. "Who are you talking to?" it asked. It was Sharpay, already perfected and looked like she was ready to go on a date. And it was only 9:15 in the morning.

"Oh, um, just Gabriella," Ryan said, shooting an embarrassed smile at Gabriella. Once again, she saw that smile and got butterflies. Shrugging it off, she decided to talk to Sharpay, first because that was what she had come to do in the first place, and second because she had to get her mind off the boy that was standing in front of her.

"Well, the real reason I came here was to talk to you, Sharpay," Gabriella said, putting her hand on Ryan's chest and pushing past him. Touching him felt weird on her hand, but she didn't want to think anything of it. She didn't want to believe it. Face-to-face with Sharpay, she confronted her. "I saw you in the country club with Troy. I know what you were trying to do. You were trying to get him to like you so he would break up with me just so that _you_ could have a boyfriend. That is so low, even for you." Gabriella looked Sharpay straight in the eyes, glaring at her, getting inches from her face. "I just want you to know that none of your little plans are going to work. Because Troy will always be by my side, no matter what you try to do." She finally backed off.

"Well, we'll see about that," Sharpay said as she looked at Ryan, who had a horrified look in his face, mouth almost touching the delicate hardwood floor of their foyer. "What?" Sharpay asked her brother, wondering why he had such a face.

"I can't believe you!!! Flirting with Gabriella's **CURRENT** boyfriend? That is just mean." Ryan said, astonished. "Yeah I know that it's you," he added as he saw the "so what?" look on Sharpay's face.

"No, it's fine. They didn't kiss, but she was trying to kiss him, and that's bad enough!" Gabriella said. She was starting to get mad now. But then again, she was touched that Ryan, who is only a little nicer than his sister, was standing up for her, when he was usually mean himself. _Maybe he's gotten nicer,_ Gabriella thought. _That was probably the reason that I didn't like him in the first place, because he was mean. But now that he's nice, I guess I could give it a shot. My mom had always said, "Change is always good," but it might not have been in this kind of situation. What am I saying?!?!? I can't go out with Ryan! Troy is my boyfriend!! _While she was thinking, she realized that she was staring at Ryan, probably with a dreamy look in her eyes after thinking about going out with him. Not wanting to let Sharpay or Ryan, especially Ryan, know what she was thinking, she had to make a quick excuse. "Uh, I was just really tired. I did not get enough sleep this morning." She thought that her excuse might fool them, but even if it didn't work, her business was done at the Evans's house anyhow. But she decided that there was one thing that she needed to know before she left. "So Ryan, what about that tutoring thing?"

"Tutoring?" Sharpay asked, with a look of confusion, but a small smile, on her face as she turned to her brother.

"Yeah," Gabriella said. "I told Ryan that I could tutor him because he could excel in all of his classes, and not just drama."

"Well," Ryan said. "I guess I could give it a shot. It wouldn't hurt."

"Cool, so are we gonna meet at my house or your house?" Gabriella asked.

"I don't care, what would you prefer?" Ryan asked with a one-shoulder shrug.

"I guess we could do my house," Gabriella said. She had a reason for saying this, however. Gabriella's house had only two couches, and they were pretty small. "Of course, your house would probably be better." She didn't want to make it seem too obvious that she liked him, even if she wasn't completely sure herself.

"OK, so I guess I'll see you tomorrow, as a start for next year."

"Cool," Gabriella smiled, giving a mocking look in Sharpay's direction. Still smiling all the way home, she thought about Ryan's last words. "See you tomorrow…"


	4. You Know I Never Wanted to Hurt You

When Gabriella's alarm rang the next morning at ten, she was very eager to get up. The only reason that she had actually set her alarm that morning is because she had agreed to go to Ryan's house to start tutoring him at 10:30. Luckily, she was able to get ready in only 10 minutes.

"Where are you going this early in the morning?" Ms. Montez said as Gabriella walked toward the door, backpack over her shoulder and all ready to go. She forgot that she had not told her mom what she was doing or where she was going.

"Oh, I promised a friend that I would tutor them this summer."

"Well, that's nice of you. Which friend?"

Um," Gabriella started to say. She knew that she couldn't lie to her mom, and she would have to tell her who it was. "Ryan."

"Evans? Isn't that the boy who tried to win the lead of that winter play that you did?"

"Yes, Mom, he did, along with his sister, Sharpay." Gabriella was getting a little annoyed now. She wanted to get to Ryan's house before he got dressed.

"Who names their child Sharpay? That's a type of dog. Wouldn't you feel sorry for your kid?"

"I don't know, Mom." Gabriella said, checking her watch. It was 10:15. "But I really gotta go. I promised that I would be over there at 10:30."

"OK, Gabby. Have fun with your friend!"

"I will, Mom," Gabriella said rolling her eyes as she walked out the door and got into her car.

She arrived at Sharpay and Ryan's house at exactly 10:30 that morning. She had planned it so early in the morning because hopefully she would see Ryan in his pajamas. Just thinking of that made her smile. She rang the doorbell when she got to the front step, and looking in the Evans's living room still amazed her, even though she knew what was to be expected. To her joy, Ryan answered the door, to her luck, still in his pajamas.

"I was just planning on getting dressed, but I knew you were coming." Ryan said smiling. His blond hair was wet, which made it look a dark blond, but was sticking out on the sides of his head a little bit, but not so much as it was a total mess. He hadn't even brushed his hair before she got here. It was odd for Gabriella to see him unperfected, but she liked this Ryan better. Gabriella smiled too, meeting his gaze once more, but quickly looked away. She came here strictly for business, not to flirt.

"So where should we start studying?"

"I guess we could go in my room."

"Yeah, we could. You know the way better than I do." Gabriella said as she followed Ryan up the spiral staircase. The stairs were lined with red carpet, as if every time someone walked up or down the stairs, they were considered royal. Walking down the hallway, Gabriella stumbled across many pictures of Ryan and Sharpay on the wall. It seemed like there was a picture of them every year of their lives: when they were just born, their first birthday, their first Christmas, their second birthday, Easter, their third birthday, Christmas of the next year, their fifth birthday –

"Here's my room," Ryan said, interrupting Gabriella looking at all the pictures.

"Wow." Gabriella said wide-eyes as she entered Ryan's room.

Ryan's room, first of all, was huge, as was the rest of the house. It had to be big to put every single thing that Ryan had in there. Against the back wall, there was a stage. It wasn't just a small stage, it was huge including a stereo with two microphones sitting near the edge, probably where he and Sharpay practiced their songs. Gabriella saw two papers on the stage, and as she walked over there, she could just make out the words on the top of the sheets: "Bop to the Top". All the walls were painted a pale green in order to make the room seem bright, but no so bright that it was over the top. A twin bed was sitting against one of the walls, covered in dark green sheets. Looking around his room, a thought came through Gabriella's mind that she though that she would have never known. _His room is pretty normal. I mean, I thought it was going to be really over-the-top drama, but it's cool that he's not like that at home. I don't think that I could have handled that. But I can handle this._ She suddenly remembered what she was actually here for, not to see Ryan's room.

"So, do you wanna start? I did come here to tutor you, you know. What should we do first?" Gabriella said, not wanting to sound too obvious.

"Yeah sure. I guess we could start with math, I'm horrible at it." Ryan said, smiling.

"Lucky for you, I'm not." Gabriella said, walking over to Ryan's bed and putting her books down. She got her math book and walked over to a table a few feet away from one of the walls. "What 'cha waitin' for?" Gabriella smiled as Ryan walked over to the table, sat down, and scooted his chair almost right next to her. She could smell that he had just taken a shower probably just minutes before she got there. She could tell he was trying to impress her. Big time.

What neither of them knew, however, was that Sharpay was standing right in the doorway, leaning on the door frame with a smile on her face. She looked over at Gabriella, and Sharpay saw Gabriella staring at the room's occupant with a look on her face that said, _"_Oh, I so want him!" while he was writing on his paper, trying to figure out how to do this problem. Sharpay knew what these tutoring sessions were about. Gabriella liked Ryan, and she could really use that to get what she wanted most: Troy.

Going down the stairs, she tried to think up a plan. Her country club plan didn't work, and this one had to. She had to get Troy somehow. Suddenly, an idea hit her. If Gabriella realized that she liked Ryan more than she liked Troy, then she would she would eventually break up with him to go to Ryan. Which meant that Troy would be available. Sharpay stopped in her tracks as she remembered what Troy said to her after she had tried to kiss him: "Maybe when I don't have a relationship with anyone else. I promise." She smiled to herself, hatching up a plan to tell her brother when he was done getting tutored by Gabriella. Looking over her shoulder, Sharpay saw Ryan smile as he closed the door into his room, locking in him and his tutor. She barely saw him mouth the words "for privacy" as he closed the door. _This is going to work out perfectly,_ Sharpay thought, a mischievous smile spreading across her face.

"Troy, we need to talk," Gabriella said as she turned to face Troy. She had told him to meet her at the park this morning. As agreed, he had arrived right on the minute with a worried look on his face. Gabriella had to tell him sooner or later, and she knew that sooner would probably be better in this situation.

"What's up?" Troy asked. As he looked into her eyes, she got a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach, like it wasn't right for him to be looking at her. She knew why it was, and that was what she would tell him.

"Well, I went over to Sharpay and Ryan's house to talk to Sharpay about flirting with you at the country club, and Ryan answered the door. We got into a conversation and he told me that he was really into reading. I told him that he could be really smart if he actually tried, so about two weeks ago, I told him that I would tutor him. Well, -"

"And after a few weeks you realized that you really liked him more than you like me and you want to break up with me?" Troy said with a sad look in his eyes, not meeting Gabriella's gaze this time.

"How did you know?" Gabriella said, looking down.

"I could see it in your eyes. And you also said, 'We need to talk' which usually means you wanna break up with me."

"Oh, yeah that always gives it away," Gabriella admitted. _At least I didn't have to say it, _Gabriella thought. It was a lot easier to hear someone else say that you want to break up with them than for you to actually say it. That was the lesson that Gabriella realized at that very moment. However, it still hurt just as much.

"I mean, Ryan?! How can you like that evil – "

"I just do, OK," Gabriella interrupted, not wanting to know what Troy was planning on calling Ryan. "I don't know how, it's not my fault. I can't help who I like!" She was trying to explain it to Troy, but he didn't seem to understand, judging by the confused look on his face.

"Yeah, I know but… I mean, Ryan!!! You could do so much better than that! I was hoping that if you ever broke up with me, that you would go for someone that's not…Ryan!?"

"Yeah, I know. It scares me too. But I told you, it's not my fault. We're still friends, right?" She saw the look on Troy's face. He wasn't answering. He wasn't even looking at her. "Right?"

"Yeah, I guess we are."

"Troy, I want you to know that whatever happens, I will always consider you as a friend, even if you don't consider me as one. And if I don't like Ryan after a while, and I still want a boyfriend, you will be the first one I'll come to. Troy?" Gabriella realized that Troy was looking at his feet with a glazed look in his eyes. "Troy, are you listening to me?" Gabriella asked as she went over to touch Troy's shoulder. She felt so bad at this point, she wasn't even the least bit surprised when he pushed her hand away as soon as her hand touched his shoulder. "Troy, please listen to me!"

"Why should I listen to you? You have done nothing for me. You never listened to me. When I was trying to tell you that I didn't like Sharpay, you wouldn't let me talk. So why should I listen to you now?" Troy said as the glazed look in his eyes started to turn into anger and he started to walk away. Nonetheless, a pang of either guilt or hunger for some odd reason surged through his body.

"Troy, please!"

"No! What you said about me never considering you as a friend is true, so you won't have to worry about me butting into your life anymore. And you know what? I'm happy about this breakup because you know who I promised that I would have a relationship with when I didn't have a one with anyone else?" He knew that he didn't mean it, but the way he was feeling right now just made him say it, and he regretted it painfully once he did, knowing that this would be something he wouldn't be able to fix.

"Who?"

"Sharpay! So now, I'll be happy because I'll finally be with the girl that I really wanted to be with. I'll never know what I saw in you!"

"Troy, you didn't mean that."

"Yes I did. Did I stutter?" But his conscience told him that Gabriella was right. He didn't mean it, and he never will. He loved Gabriella, but only in a friendly way, not a romantic way. She was beautiful and she was smart, but somehow, after almost kissing Sharpay, he realized that he wanted Sharpay more. Suddenly, he thought of a song that he had both heard and sung earlier in the year, sung by the girl that he wanted now.

_I've never had someone that knows me like you do_

_The way you do_

_And I've never had someone as good for me as you_

_No one like you_

_So lonely before, I finally found_

_What I've been looking for_

It was then that he realized that he felt the same way about Sharpay. Gabriella's voice interrupted his train of thought.

"No, but –"

Thinking of what had been said in their conversation earlier, he thought about what he was going to say next. "I did mean it, and I'm gonna go see Sharpay right now. And I'm gonna tell her all about how you dumped me so now I can have her. And for the record, you don't have to worry about seeing me again." Troy said, stuffing his hands into his pockets and stomping off. Gabriella could feel tears running down her cheeks as she realized what she had done: not only lost a boyfriend, but a friend too.

Weeks went by and Gabriella was shocked when the completely unexpected happened on a Thursday afternoon: Ryan asked her out.

"Hey Gabriella," Ryan said one morning. "Can you explain this to me a little more, I don't get this question."

They were sitting in his green room, surrounded by the silence that comes with tutoring. Ryan's voice startled Gabriella because she was reading at the time, and she was so engulfed in the book that she was leaning back in the chair, expecting nothing to come. When she heard his voice, she jumped and literally fell out of her chair. As embarrassed as she was as she hit the floor, she couldn't help laughing. In a matter of seconds, Ryan was by her side, offering his hand to help her up. She took it, feeling the butterflies coming back into her stomach, and looked into his eyes. She now realized what the real Ryan was like, not the Ryan that she knew at school. The Ryan she knew at school was an inconsiderate, shallow, self-absorbed jerk. But the Ryan that her hand was holding onto was a sweet, funny, considerate, compassionate, regular guy. It was then she realized that he was everything she always wanted, even more than what she saw in Troy, which she thought would never happen in her life. He gently pulled her up like it was nothing, and Gabriella was still smiling to herself. Even through all the confusion in her head, she was able to clear her mind with thoughts of Ryan that parted through all the confusion, smiling all the time, no matter what he felt. Always trying to make a joke of everything, no matter how serious it was. Just trying to have fun in life, something that Gabriella never thought about. She always thought that life was all about succeeding and doing your best. But at that moment, she finally realized that you only have one life to live, why not make it fun. Sure you can excel, but what fun is being smart of you can't laugh about it? What fun is it if you can't have, well, fun with it? Ryan's voice interrupted her thoughts again.

"Are you going to help me or not?" Ryan asked, smiling at Gabriella. She no longer got the butterflies as she met his gaze, but instead she thought of a song she sang earlier in the year with her ex-boyfriend that she now cared nothing about.

_This could be the start of something new_

_It feels so right to be here with you…_

On the last part, she let her voice out, singing to Ryan. "And now looking in your eyes, I feel in my heart." The sweet voice of the boy beside her blended with hers on the last line, filling the room with a sound that would even make the prettiest-singing birds jealous. "The start of something new."

Ryan smiled the sweetest smile that she had seen yet, which Gabriella returned.

"So are you going to help me or not?" Ryan asked for the second time, but somehow, he was not annoyed by her not answering.

"Sure," Gabriella said as Ryan sat down at the table. Gabriella sat down in a chair next to him and scooted closer to Ryan than the chair already was. She was helping him with math, which was his worst subject. She was reading the question, not understanding why Ryan wouldn't get it. Now that she had been tutoring him, his teachers had noticed a miraculous improvement in his grades. She had overheard his teacher talking to him one day and she went over there to tell the teacher that she had offered to tutor him. The teacher said that she should have known it was Gabriella, but she didn't understand why Gabriella would help Ryan, since he had tried to take over her part in the play. She said she was just trying to help a friend, which was the completely opposite reason that she had offered. But the teachers had bought it, and that was enough for her.

Gabriella looked at the math question, trying to find a way to explain it more than it was explained already. "_A group of eight people go to the movies. The student tickets are $3.80 a piece and the regular tickets are $5.75 a piece. How many student tickets and how many regular tickets did the group buy if the total cost of the tickets is $34.30?" _Gabriella tried to explain the question more, but Ryan seemed to get it all of a sudden. He decided to give the question a different approach.

"Hang on, I think I get it. If I took you to the movies on Saturday, and we bought two student tickets, the cost would be $7.60? What do you say? Saturday night?"

Gabriella was so taken back by the offer, that she had no idea what to say. Sitting there with her mouth open, stuttering, she thought about what had just happened. Ryan had asked her out, she knew that for sure. He was smarter than he looked, and he had gotten the scheming gene from his sister, which made a double threat. Reading the question, he knew that he could ask her out by using the question as bait to lure Gabriella over right to his line. And as she had bitten the bait, he reeled her in for the catch, getting a perfect run. The song right before must have made the bait a lot bigger, making it more likely for her to bite it

All she could do was stutter. "I, uh, um, I, uh, I, uh, don't know what to say," All she could think about was what Troy had said to her. She was never able to get that out of her head: "So now, I'll be happy because I'll finally be with the girl that I really wanted to be with. I'll never know what I saw in you!...And for the record, you never have to worry about seeing me again." When she thought about what he had said to her, she had made up her mind already. "Yeah, Saturday would be great. Can't wait!" she said smiling. Looking at her watch, she saw it was already 1:00. Her mother would kill her for being so late for lunch. "I gotta go. And by the way, I can't wait for Saturday." Gabriella said, looking into Ryan's eyes. She gathered up her books off of Ryan's bed and walked down the stairs. She dropped them, however, once she saw who was in the living room, kissing. The couple looked up in surprise as they heard the clutter of Gabriella's books falling on the hardwood floor. She looked into the face of the boy, but it wasn't long before he looked away. Wishing that this was all a dream, she quickly shut her eyes. She wasn't sure if she could take that. When she opened her eyes, however, the boy was gone, and the only person she saw in the living room was Sharpay, watching a movie. She heart skipped a beat as she realized that what she had seen was all fake, but she was still breathing hard. Hearing the noise of a car pulling in the driveway, she looked out the window, seeing an all-too familiar car pull in. It was Troy. She crept up the stairs as Troy walked in the door. From the top of the stairs, she saw and heard what was going on below her.


	5. What About Me?

"Hey, Shar."

"Hey Troy," Sharpay said as he gave her a quick kiss. Gabriella was surprised when she realized that she didn't care that he had kissed her. She decided to stay on the upper level, just to be safe.

"Whose car is parked in your driveway?" Troy asked. Gabriella knew the answer that was coming.

"Oh, that's Gabriella's. I guess she hasn't left yet. If you wanna see her, she's probably upstairs in Ryan's room." For some reason, hearing that sentence caused a burning sensation in Troy's stomach. He walked up the stairs to see if he could find Gabriella. He just wanted to make sure that she was really tutoring Ryan. Hearing Troy's footsteps, Gabriella ran towards Ryan's room, knocking on the door once she got there. Ryan opened the door with a surprised look on his face.

"What are you still doing here? I thought you had to go home." Ryan said with a confused look. _He is so cute when he is confused,_ Gabriella thought, smiling.

"What? Is that code for you saying you don't want me here? In that case, I'll leave." Smiling, Gabriella turned to leave, waiting for Ryan to call her back.

"No, I mean, I want you to stay, I just was surprised that you were still here."

"Well, change of plans. I just decided that I could stay here. A little extra time wouldn't hurt. But I really need to get in there. Troy's coming and he's looking for me."

"But you've finished tutoring me already. There's nothing left to do." Ryan said with as he led her into his room, closing the door behind him.

Gabriella knew that Troy might come to take her back, she quickly thought of a plan. She heard the door opening and she did the first thing she could think of that told Troy that she had no intention of coming back to him anytime soon. She grabbed the front of Ryan's shirt and pulled him to her, kissing him just as the door opened. She didn't even know that Troy had walked in just as their lips met, and Troy was enraged when he saw Gabriella kissing Ryan. His fists clenched as he walked out the door and stomped down the stairs. Sharpay met her boyfriend at the bottom of the stairs.

"What's wrong?" she said as a worried look came over her face and she put her hands on his shoulders.

"It's Gabriella. I saw her making out with Ryan. I can't believe she would do that."

"I can." Sharpay said, but shut her mouth when she realized that she had said the wrong thing.

"What do you mean?" Troy said, glaring at Sharpay. She knew she had said the wrong thing once she had actually said it, and she knew that she was about to be interrogated.

"What exactly did she tell you?" Chad asked Troy as he tried to help his desperate friend, Taylor by his side as always.

"Well, she said that Gabriella liked Ryan more than she liked me and she really didn't come over just to tutor him. She said that every time that she comes over, they start making out before Gabriella even walks in the door. She said it started to get really annoying so she sent them up to his room and every time she goes upstairs, she sees them making out."

Taylor hated interrupting the story, but she felt the need to express her concern. "I don't know what kind of story Sharpay's making up, but that doesn't sound like Gabriella to me. I mean, I've only known her for a year, but I still think she would tell you if she was making out with Ryan. I mean, you're her boyfriend."

Taylor bringing that up made Troy realize that he hadn't told them that Gabriella had dumped him yet. This would be a long night.

"Well, not anymore. She kinda dumped me." Troy admitted, and he felt his face getting red.

"What? Why?" Chad asked, not even asking why he hadn't told him that already.

"She said that she liked Ryan more than me. She said that he had agreed for her to tutor him, and a few weeks later, she realized that she liked him more than she liked me and dumped me."

Taylor and Chad exchanged looks as if to say, "Maybe Sharpay was right…for once." Even though they didn't believe it, they both knew that it was probably true. Since Gabriella liked Ryan now, if she kissed him, then she wouldn't have to tell Troy.

"It still doesn't seem like Gabby though. In my opinion, I think that Sharpay is just trying to get you jealous so that you would want her more." Chad offered.

"What I want to know though, is why you were mad when you saw it in the first place. I mean, you don't even like her anymore." Taylor said, making a good point.

"Yeah," Chad chimed in. "When you told us, you sounded like you were jealous. What's up?"

"Well, the thing is," Troy started. He should have known he would have had to admit this eventually, and now would probably be a good time. "After being with Sharpay for about three weeks, I've realized how bossy she is. It's crazy! I mean, everything I want to do, she wants to tell me otherwise. I mean, it's not like I want to, she threatens to not be my girlfriend any more. And I can't have that. Do you know how bad that will be for Gabriella? She'll be mocking me for the rest of my life! I can't have that either. But getting to the point, I've realized how much I miss Gabriella, but she can't know that or else my whole life will be one big mess. That's the reason I was jealous when I saw her kissing him. That's why I actually believed Sharpay. I'm such a jerk."

"No you're not," Taylor said, placing a gentle hand on Troy's shoulder. "You just made a mistake, that's all. It's not your fault, it's Sharpay's."

"Yeah, man. Don't blame yourself for something you didn't do. Everything is Sharpay's fault, dude." Chad said, laughing on the last sentence. It made Troy laugh, too.

"I guess you're right. I was just paranoid about what Gabriella would think. And what Sharpay would think if I told her that I missed Gabriella." Troy said.

"Well, I think you should tell Sharpay that you still miss her. She's your girlfriend, and couples don't keep secrets from each other," Taylor said. On that last sentence, she looked over to Chad and smiled.

"I just don't know how to tell her," Troy admitted.

This time, Chad was the one who offered the advice. "Try telling her that you just need a break for a while, you know, to think things over. And don't take no for an answer. Then, just go to Gabriella and-"

Taylor chimed in, finishing his sentence for him. "Tell her how you really feel. Tell you that you miss her and want to take her back. Hopefully, she'll say yes. If not…"

" Then I have a crisis here." Troy said, realizing what he had to do. Chad and Taylor were right. She had to tell Sharpay eventually, and maybe things would work out for the best if he did. "When should I tell her?" he asked, not knowing when he should break the news to his girlfriend.

"Tell her right when you get home. No, you need to tell her before that. Call her now."

"You mean, right now?"

"Yes! Now get out your phone," Taylor demanded.

Troy got out his cell phone and pressed the number 2 button. After a few rings, a female voice answered on the other line. "Hello?"

"Hey," Troy said. _Hey Troy!! What's up? _Sharpay asked into the hot pink, rhinestone-and diamond-studded cell phone she was holding in her hand.

"Um, Shar, we need to talk." Troy said, already feeling bad about what he was going to do. "How about meeting me in the park tomorrow?" When he asked this question, he looked over and Chad and Taylor, who were shaking their heads in unison. Troy saw Taylor mouth the word, "Now." "On second thought, why don't I just tell you now," Troy said, making the last word sound more like a question than a statement. This time when Troy looked over to Taylor, she was nodding her head in approval. "See, Shar, the thing is I think that we need a break, you know, from us being together." _Oh, sure. _Sharpay said. _We'll just reschedule our date for tomorrow night. _"No, I mean, like for good. As in, we need to see other people. You know, not forever, just for a little while, like a few months. _Troy! _Sharpay cried. _Why?!?! _

"Well, I just think I need to get everything straight like with my feelings and stuff. I just have a lot on my mind right now. You understand, don't you?" Troy asked, getting a pained look on his face, imagining how much this was hurting Sharpay._ No, Troy! I know that I'm being too bossy on you, but I can change! I really can! Just give me a second chance! Please! I can be less bossy, I really can. I just need a second chance. Please Troy! _Sharpay cried. Troy could hear that she was literally starting to cry. It was in her voice. Troy couldn't bear to hear her cry over the phone, so he made a compromise with her.

"How about we break up for only a month? Then, whatever happens, we'll get back together unless, and only unless, we find other people that we like better than each other." Troy hoped it would work. Sharpay seemed to like that plan. _Yeah, like that'll ever happen, but I guess it could work. I guess I'll see you later then, you know, as friends. _She emphasized on the last word.

"Cool," Troy sighed. "I'm glad you understand." _Me too,_ Sharpay said. _I love you, Troy._ "I love you, too, Shar." He looked over to Chad and Taylor, who both had their mouths gaping open in horror. "I mean, in a brother-sister way, not a romantic way." But Sharpay had hung up after Troy had said, "I love you, too, Shar," thinking that what he said about having some time to himself was all a huge joke, as he said that he loved her afterwards. She still thought he wanted to be with her.

"Are you happy now, guys? I just dumped my girlfriend." Troy sighed, glaring at Chad and Taylor.

"Actually, yes we are. I really don't know what you were thinking when you agreed to go out with her in the first place, man. I mean, really! The Ice Queen!?!?!" Chad said.

Troy still hurt inside when anyone called Sharpay "the Ice Queen", but he remained calm nonetheless. "I've kinda liked her before I even met Gabriella during Winter Break, and we went out before then." It was then that Troy realized that he had never told anyone that, not even Chad. He had always made up excuses if Chad wanted to do something for basketball at the same time he had a date with Sharpay. And now he had just admitted it, knowing that they were going to freak. He was right.

"You went out with her before you met Gabby!! Wow. That's really all I can say. Wow. And why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Because, I don't know, I guess I just didn't want to know that a basketball star could fall for a drama queen. And I was afraid that people would realize that if she would go out with me, then she would go out with anyone, and all these guys would ask her out and she would say yes and I would lose her. I guess that's why I never told you. Or anyone, for that matter. And I guess we kinda lost touch over Winter Break and we just went our separate ways. And then I met Gabby and everything changed."

"I guess that's a good reason, but is that the reason you were so into getting back with her when Gabriella dumped you?"

"Yeah," Troy said. "Well, I guess I'd better go talk to Gabriella." Troy wanted to change the subject so he wouldn't have to talk about the past. Right at that moment, he wanted to forget about the past because it already happened and there was nothing he could do about what happened. All he wanted to do was think about the future. And the future involved Troy and Gabriella.

"I guess you're right. And good luck," Taylor said. Chad and Taylor finished each others sentences, to the other's dismay because they could never finish their sentence.

"You'll-" Chad said.

"need,-" Taylor chimed in, glaring at Chad.

"it. HA!" Chad finished, gloating because he was the one who had actually finished the sentence. But by the time that had happened, Troy had walked out the door.

Meanwhile, Gabriella had called Kelsi, who had quickly come over.

"I can't believe that you kissed him!!" was the first thing that was uttered out of Kelsi's mouth as soon as Gabriella finished telling the story of what happened.

"Me either," Gabriella said. Blushing, she admitted, "But I liked it. A lot. Wow I never though I would say that."

"And I never though I would hear you say it," Kelsi admitted.

"I really did though, but I don't know if Troy saw it or not." Gabriella said.

"Well, let's think worst case scenario. What would happen if Troy had seen you making out with Ryan?"

"I was NOT making out with him!!!" Gabriella said, blushing. _No matter how much I wanted to._ She mad sure that last part was only heard by her conscience. The thing was, she really did want to make out with him, but she never had the courage to actually do it.

"Yeah, I know. I just like to torture you," Kelsi said with a chuckle.

"Kelsi!!!" Gabriella exclaimed.

Kelsi laughed again. "Anyway, what would happen if Troy had seen you kissing Ryan?"

"Nothing," Gabriella said. "He likes Sharpay anyway, so it wouldn't have mattered. He shouldn't have cared. And if he didn't see me, then nothing would have happened because nothing was ever seen. So either way, nothing should happen!! Thanks, Kelsi! Now I have nothing to worry about! Nothing could go wrong!" Gabriella smiled. Now she could do whatever she wanted knowing that Troy wouldn't care. If she wanted to make out with Ryan, she could. And Troy could do nothing about it! He wasn't her boyfriend anymore, and he liked Sharpay. He was still with her, so it's not like he was just going to dump her and go to Gabriella and say, "Hey I really missed you and I hate being with Sharpay please get back together with me," That would never happen in a million years. She just knew it. She wondered why she hadn't realized it before that nothing would happen if Troy had seen them. It was so obvious. Kelsi had left looking at a happier Gabriella than she had seen when she walked in.


	6. What Am I Supposed to Do?

That next Thursday, Troy was still looking for Gabriella. He had been trying to get a hold of her for the past week, but he couldn't seem to find her. Every time he had called her, she hadn't answered. He'd left about 20 messages, but she hadn't returned any of his calls. It was almost as is she was trying to avoid him. He knew that couldn't be it, and she had just been busy. Very, very busy, by the sounds of it. Every day he had tried to call her and look for her, but had never gotten to her. Then, that afternoon at about 3 P.M., he had finally seen her.

"Hey, Gabriella!" Troy said as he jogged over to her. She had been walking her Pomeranian, Peach, when Troy saw her. As soon as Gabriella heard his voice, she turned around surprised that Troy was right behind her. Peach, even though she looked small and petite, was very strong, and she loved Troy, so in a matter of seconds Gabriella was being pulled by her small little dog towards Troy. Her hair was in a messy ponytail and she was in a pink T-shirt with gray sweatpants with pink stripes on the side. It looked like her dog had woken her up, wanting a walk.

"Hey, Troy. What's up?" Gabriella asked when she eventually got over to Troy.

"Actually, I was going to ask you that myself," Troy said as he kneeled down to pet Peach, who was starting to jump on him, licking his hands. He picked up the little Pomeranian and smiled at Gabriella. "What have you been doing for the past week? I've been trying to call you and you've never answered."

Gabriella blushed. "Oh, well, I've been with Ryan, like, all week. I haven't had any free time at all. It's crazy. Peach just woke me up at about ten this morning wanting a walk, but I've managed to hold her off until about a few minutes ago." Peach had started licking Troy again.

"Yeah, it seems like it would be hard to keep her away," Troy said smiling. "What have you been doing with Ryan all weekend, anyway?"

"That's not important right now, is it?" Gabriella asked, still blushing. "I've just been really busy, that's all. I'm sorry."

"That's OK," Troy said. "I just wanted to tell you something."

"What is it?" Gabriella asked, taking Peach back from Troy and putting her back onto the ground. As she started to walk back towards her house, she and Troy started talking.

"Well, Gabby, the thing is that I miss you. Sharpay is killing me! She is so bossy! I mean, it's like nothing I say she likes so she forces me to do things her way."

"Forces?" Gabriella asked.

"Yeah," Troy said. "The puppy-dog-eyes always bowl me over. Always. She always makes that face and I just melt. I can't help it!"

"Troy," Gabriella said.

"I'm serious!" Troy said with a smile. "It's not my fault! Anyway, I really miss you, Gabby. And I want to get back together with you. And spending time with Sharpay made me realize that." Gabriella was so taken aback by this comment that she stopped dead in her tracks, causing Peach to keep going and become restricted by the leash. She yelped and Gabriella bent down to make sure she was okay.

"Troy, are you serious?" Gabriella asked. Even Peach was quiet, staring up at Troy, and that was rare.

"Completely," Troy said.

"Troy, listen," Gabriella said with a pained expression on her face. "I know that you miss me and all, but don't you think that if we were supposed to be together then we would still be together?"

"I guess, but-"

"There's no buts, Troy. Look, I'm really sorry, but I'm with Ryan now," seeing the look on Troy's face made her feel so sad, but she knew she couldn't give in. But still, that face! "Troy, don't do that to me! I'm going through enough already and now you want to be with me!"

"Hey," Troy said. "It's not my fault. I can't control who I like!"

"Yeah, I know, but neither can I. And that's what I'm saying. It's not my fault that I don't like you. Troy, listen, if Ryan and I ever break up, you'll be the first one I'll come to. Does that make you feel any better?"

Troy managed a small smile. "Yeah, I guess." But it really didn't make him feel better; it made him feel worse. She had said "if" which meant that she wasn't planning on dumping him anytime soon.

"OK, well, I guess I'll see you later, then," Gabriella said, patting Troy gently on the shoulder and walking back the other way. "C'mon Peach," she said. As if Peach knew the pain Troy was feeling, as dogs often do, she reluctantly walked away with Gabriella, but every few feet she would look back at Troy and whimper. But, as if Gabriella didn't notice her dog, she pulled her along despite the fact that Peach was straining on the leash to get to Troy. Troy started to get the feeling that for some reason, Gabriella was trying to avoid him, as if she was hiding something. Troy felt like he had forgotten to tell her something, and suddenly he remembered it, but she had already disappeared out of sight, but not out of mind.

Chapter 5

The next day, Troy tried calling Gabriella again, but as usual, she didn't answer her phone. Troy then had an idea.

"Hey, Dad. Can I borrow your phone for a sec?" Troy asked.

"Why?" Mr. Bolton asked, curious of what his son was going. "You can use your own phone, right? There's nothing wrong with it."

"Uh," Troy said, trying to think up an excuse. "The battery's dead. And this is an emergency!"

"Fine," Mr. Bolton said, handing over his phone. "But make it quick; you'll use up all my minutes."

"No I won't, Dad. I promise! Thank you!" Troy said as he ran off to his room to call Gabriella. She would recognize the number as Troy and she would actually answer it. Once he got to his room, he shut the door and quickly dialed her number. To Troy's relief, Gabriella answered the phone.

"Hello?" she said.

"Gabby, please listen to me this time!"

"Troy, why do you want to talk to me so badly?" Gabriella asked. Troy could tell she was annoyed.

"It's just that since you found out that you've like Ryan, you've changed."

"What do you mean, Troy?"

"I mean, that now you're ignoring me when I talk to you, you never answer your phone when I call, and you seem annoyed when I actually do talk to me. Is there something you're not telling me about?"

"I'm sorry, Troy, I'm just going through a tough time right now and I don't know how to get through it."

"What's going on?"

"Well, I don't know. I'm just under a lot of stress and I just don't feel like talking to anyone or being around anyone."

Troy remembered something that she said, however. "Didn't you tell me that you've been spending all week with Ryan?"

"Oh, that," Gabriella said, laughing. "Well, I lied. It was just an excuse for me to tell you why I haven't been answering any of your calls. Besides, you said that you never wanted to see me again."

"Well, now that we're admitting stuff, you know everything I said that day that you dumped me? Yeah, that was all a lie, too. I'm sorry for anything that I said that day. I wasn't mad because of you; it was because of my dad. I told him that I didn't want to do basketball stuff right when he said, so he got mad and then I got mad. I didn't mean any of it. It just came out." Troy said.

"But didn't you realize that you didn't mean it?" Gabriella asked.

"I guess I did," Troy admitted, "but I just didn't know what else to do."

"Whatever, Troy. It's not going to do anything. I still like Ryan and I always will, but we'll never get back together. If it was meant to be, we'd still be together. How many times do I have to tell you?"

"One more," Troy said.

"We will NEVER, and I mean NEVER get back together. Bye, Troy." Gabriella said, angered that Troy was playing with her feelings like that. It wasn't like him. But the thing was, she was starting to think that somewhere deep down she still had feelings for Troy. Trying to get that thought out of her head, she went downstairs and found her mom sitting on the couch watching Dr. Phil. _Not him again!!! He never gives good advice!_ Gabriella thought. But before she had a chance to leave the room, her mother saw her.

"Gabby! Come in here and watch Dr. Phil with me. I think you might like this episode!"

Reluctantly, Gabriella entered the living room and sat down on the couch. Ironically, the show came back and Dr. Phil appeared on the screen.

"And now, we'll talk with Jill, who dumped her boyfriend after liking another guy, but thinks she may have feelings for the boy that she dumped. Tell us your story, Jill," Dr. Phil said. Jill went on talking about her boyfriend, but Gabriella zoned out, thinking about how bad that sounded when someone else said it. She was never really into the show, but she was thinking that she may want to watch this episode for a while to see the advice given, horrible or not. She finally got her senses back to hear what Jill was saying.

"But then I talked to him on the phone and told him that we were never getting back together," Jill sobbed into a handkerchief that she had pulled out of her pocket. "But when I hung up I realized that I, that I, that I still…LOVED HIM!!!!!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" Jill was crying her eyes out into her hankie and you could barely hear what she was saying. Gabriella prayed with all her might that she would never end up like that, but she knew what she had to do.

"Hey, Mom, uh, I'm gonna go call Ryan," she said.

"Why, honey? Is something wrong?" her mom asked curiously.

"No, I just want to talk to him. That's all," Gabriella said as she slowly walked to her room. She closed her bedroom door and sat on her bed, sighing. She carefully picked up her phone and dialed Ryan's number.

"Evans residence, home of the Drama Queen. How may I help you?" Sharpay's voice said on the other end of the phone.

Not wanting to Sharpay to know that it was Gabriella, she put on a fake voice. "Yes, I'd like to talk to Ryan Evans. He has a…package that he needs to pick up."

"Oh," Sharpay said, and Gabriella could tell that she had no idea what she was talking about. "Hang on. RYAN!!!!! GET THE PHONE!!" Sharpay then returned to her normal voice again. "He should be on in a minute." A few seconds later, Ryan's voice answered the phone.

"Hello?" he said. Gabriella was instantly calmed at the sound of his voice.

"Hey!" Gabriella said once she was sure that Sharpay was off the phone.

"What's up?"

"Are you in your room?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Close the door."

"OK," Ryan said confused, but Gabriella heard the door click nonetheless.

"Watcha doin'?" Gabriella asked.

"Well, I was just practicing a song when you called, but now I'm not doing anything." Ryan said.

"Oh, well I just needed someone to talk to." Gabriella admitted.

"About what?" Ryan asked. Gabriella could tell he was genuinely concerned, but she was afraid to tell him that she thought that she might like Troy.

"Oh…just…stuff,"

"Oh, like what?"

"Um, well," Gabriella said, trying to think of something to say. "Uh, Peach is doing good. We just took her to get a checkup yesterday and she got a clean bill of health."

"Well, that's good, I guess….Oh! Speaking of dogs, guess what?"

"I don't know, what?" Gabriella said. For some reason, talking to Ryan made her feel better. There was just something in hearing the sound of his voice.

"Ok, so Mom and Dad called me and Shar…sorry, Shar and I least night and told us we could get a dog!!! Isn't that great!!"

"Yeah!" Gabriella exclaimed. "Now Peach will have someone to play with! Hey, speaking of Peach, here she comes now! Why don't you tell her the good news?" As Peach trotted into Gabriella's room, collar jingling, Gabriella easily picked her up with her one free hand and held her up to the phone. "Say hi to Ryan, Peach!" Peach barked loudly into the phone.

"Hey, Peach!" Ryan said as the little dog barked again. "Guess what?" In Gabriella's arms, Peach cocked her head as if actually asking "What?"

"I'm gonna get you a little boyfriend! He's a Yorkie!"

Peach barked loudly, making Gabriella's ears ring. "Ow, Peach, you gotta stop doing that! Wait, Ryan, what did you say about a boyfriend?" Gabriella asked.

"Well, I figured that it would just happen naturally because, well, you know, their owners are together, it's just obvious that they're gonna get together, too, right?"

"Aw, that is so sweet! The puppies will be so cute!!!" came a voice other than Gabriella's or Ryan's. It was Sharpay. She had been eavesdropping on the whole conversation. Gabriella was lucky that she hadn't said anything bad.

"Woah, woah, woah! Puppies! You haven't even gotten the dog yet! And besides, I'm not sure my mom would appreciate a litter of puppies running around the house." There was a pause during which neither Ryan nor Sharpay said a word. "Exactly when are you getting this dog?" Gabriella questioned with a hint of concern in her voice.

"Um, well," Ryan said with a nervous laugh. At that very moment, Gabriella heard a dog bark as if on cue.

"Shush, Boi!" Ryan said softly, obviously not wanting Gabriella to hear. But Gabriella had already heard.

"I guess you already got him," she said.

"Sharpay, could you hang up?" Ryan asked. Gabriella heard Sharpay scoff, but a few seconds later, the click of a phone was heard. Ryan and Gabriella waited in silence for a few seconds before continuing with their conversation.

"Uh, yeah I did…yesterday," Ryan started, "after you left. I was just about to call and tell you, but you called first."

"Yesterday was fun," Gabriella said with a smile. "I just still can't believe that you had enough job openings for me, Tay, Chad, Jason, and Zeke!"

"Always for you, Gabby," Ryan said. "I'm sure you can start when my parents get back next week. They'll love the extra help."

"Hey, Ry, what about Lauren?" came Sharpay's voice again. Obviously, she had never really hung up.

"Who's Lauren?" Gabriella questioned.

"Our cousin," Sharpay said. "She's my mom's brother's daughter. She looks like me."

"She does not!" Ryan exclaimed.

"Yeah she does!" Sharpay said, probably just for the sake of arguing. "And just so you know, Montez, Troy will probably fall for her."

Sharpay saying that really affected Gabriella for some reason, but she tried not to let it show. "So?" Gabriella said. "I don't care about Troy anymore." At this moment, she heard Ryan hang up. Apparently, he wasn't into talking about Troy. Gabriella could tell by the sound of her own voice that Sharpay wouldn't believe her. Gabriella knew that Sharpay could tell bad acting, or just acting for that matter, and Gabriella knew Sharpay could see right through her.

"So, Gabriella, what are you doing right now?" Sharpay said, a tone of perfect innocence creeping into her voice.

"Nothing really," Gabriella said. "Just playing with Peach."

"Coolness!" Sharpay said, sounding exactly like Regina from _Mean Girls_, which highly freaked Gabriella out. "Then you have time to come over." Sharpay smiled wickedly into the phone.

"Um, ok. I'll go ask my mom. Oh, wait, I don't think my car has enough gas to get over there."

"I can come pick you up," Sharpay offered. To Gabriella, it sounded like Sharpay was desperate to get her over there.

"Not to be mean or anything, but in what?" Gabriella asked. She knew Ryan didn't have a car, their parents had taken their cars, and, as far as Gabriella knew, Sharpay didn't have a car. Unless…

"Didn't Ryan tell you? Daddy got me a car! I got my license last weekend," Gabriella had a hard time believing that Sharpay was a good driver, but miracles do happen. "so he got me a car!" Sharpay continued.

"Sure, you can come over I guess,"

Coolness!" Sharpay said once again. "See ya in a few. Toodles!"


	7. I Gotta Leave, But I'll Miss You

As Sharpay hung up, Gabriella wasn't really looking forward to her coming over, but it meant she could bring Ryan over. Unfortunately, Sharpay had hung up before Gabriella had gotten a chance to ask her. Gabriella decided that she should go ask her mom if she could go to Sharpay's, even though she was almost positive that she wouldn't mind.

"Hey, Mom, can I go over to Ryan's for a little while?" Gabriella called to her mom.

"Sure, honey, what for?"

"Sharpay wants to talk to me. She said she would come pick me up."

"OK," her mom answered.

Gabriella decided that while she was waiting for Sharpay, she should check her e-mail. She turned on her laptop and played with Peach for a little while she waited for it to boot up. When she looked in her inbox, however, the only message she had was one from Troy. She read it aloud to Peach:

"'Gabby, you're right about us not being meant to be together. It we were, as you said, we would still be together. And we're not. I'm sorry I didn't understand it earlier. Love, your buddy, Troy.' Why do I have to be late!!" Gabriella cried as she looked at Peach, who just lie down on Gabriella's bed and put her paws over her eyes. Gabriella decided to send Troy a reply. As she typed, she read aloud:

"'I was just kidding when I said that stuff, Troy. All I wanted to do was see how you would react. I think we were always meant to be together. Since the first time we sang together…like kindergarten… ' Do you think he'll buy that, Peach?" Peach just sat up and cocked her head. "Me either," Gabriella admitted. "But it's worth a shot, right??? But what about Ryan?? I don't know what to do, Peach! Help me!!" Just as Gabriella sent her message to Troy, the doorbell rang. No doubt it was Sharpay. Gabriella could help but walk over to her window to see what little car Sharpay had persuaded her father to buy her. She was not surprised at all, however, when she looked out the window. She looked down at her driveway to see a pink convertible parked in it. Gabriella saw Ryan sitting in the front seat with a lookon his face that clearly said, "Why me???" Gabriella was just about to wave when her mother called her down. She didn't hear her, however, because she was staring at Ryan again trying to figure out who she really liked. A few minutes later, Gabriella decided to go downstairs to see what Sharpay was up to. She reluctantly pulled her eyes away from the sight of her boyfriend in a pink car, but she knew she would see it again soon.

She walked down the stairs to find Sharpay coming up them, wearing clothes that matched her car(completely pink). Apparently, Gabriella's mother had sent Sharpay up when Gabriella didn't come down. Sharpay was examining her manicure as she came up the stairs, so she didn't see Gabriella, who was just standing at the top of the stairs waiting for Sharpay to run into her. As a result of Sharpay not seeing Gabriella, she did run into her, literally.

"Watch where you're-oh, hi Montez. Ready to go?" Sharpay said, finally spotting Gabriella.

"Uh, yeah. Hey, do you want me to bring Peach?" Gabriella asked.

"Actually, Montez, I was just about to ask you that. I'm sure she'll love to se Boi."

"Yeah, she would. I'll go get her seatbelt out of my car."

"Oh, no. No need for that! I'm sure Boi's will fit her...it's adjustable. And we already have it in the car! Anything to save time."

"Ok," Gabriella said, confused, as she started roaming around the house looking for her little Pomeranian. Peach walked around the corner just as Sharpay and Gabriella did, took one look at Sharpay, and a low growl started to form in her throat. Gabriella noticed this right away and hurried to calm her puppy down before things got ugly. She picked up Peach, who calmed down instantly, hugged and kissed her mother goodbye, and headed out the door with Sharpay following right behind her.

When Gabriella got to Sharpay's pink car, she gave Ryan a quick one-armed hug and a kiss on the cheek before climbing into the back seat and buckling up Peach. Ryan then climbed into the back seat next to her. Sharpay rolled her eyes at this gesture, but seemed to further ignore it. When Ryan looked away, however, Sharpay gave Gabriella a look in the mirror that said, "He's a much better choice than Troy...oh, wait, that's because TROY IS MINE!!!" Gabriella was surprised at how good of a driver Sharpay was, but that was probably only because she was to busy staring at Ryan to see what Sharpay was doing. Trying to figure out which guy she liked was harder than Gabriella thought. Troy was smart, cute, funny, and really sweet, but she really didn't have that much in common with him. He was a complete jock whose dad wouldn't even let him have a picnic with her just because he had to get a job. Ryan, on the other hand, was a completely different person. He was everything that Troy was, and more. The thing was, though, that Ryan wasn't a jock. In fact, he wasn't really into sports at all, except that he was on a baseball team with the Wildcat basketball players. Ryan's brain was almost identical to Gabriella's. He liked exactly the same things she did(except that he and Sharpay were Drama freaks), and he was the kind of guy that would go out of his way to spend time with her. But the main thing was, she actually wanted to spend time with her. She had to admit, Ryan didn't have many friends, but he would cancel plans with them anyday to spend time with Gabriella. And she was sure that Troy wouldn't do that. He hadn't before. In fact, he had canceled plans with Gabriella so that he could hang out with his friends...or Sharpay. Gabriella was appalled! Troy canceled his picnic with her not because he had to go get a job, but because he wanted to go flirt with Sharpay. _He totally would have kissed her if I hadn't been there. He saw me and didn't want me to know he was flirting with Sharpay, so he sent her off, pretending that it was just an accident that he almost kissed her_, Gabriella thought. Now she was beginning to wonder how she saw anything in Troy at all. Why did she like Troy now? Why did she like Troy...when she loved Ryan?

"Are you okay, Gabs?" Gabriella heard a voice next to her, and snapping back into reality, realized it was Ryan.

"Truthfully, Ryan, I don't know," she said as a tear started to fall down her cheek. Ryan slowly wrapped his right arm around Gabriella's waist and puller her close. She leaned her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Ryan lowered his head onto hers to comfort her even more, and, in the mirror, Sharpay could be seen glancing at the couple and nodding her head slowly in approval while she smirked, turning on the radio. As if on cue, the chorus of "She Could Be" started to play, completing the moment.

"_She could be all I'm ever gonna need._

_She's like a beauty queen_

_In just her t-shirt and her jeans._

_She could be just the one I'm waiting for._

_She could be a perfect score and more_

_She could be, she could be, she could be._"

It was only then that Sharpay was positive that she wouldn't have to worry about Troy being stolen from her. Even Peach didn't ruin this romantic moment, as she usually does, by barking. She just sat there and enjoyed the breeze as the convertible cruised down the road.

By the time Sharpay pulled into the garage, Ryan and Gabriella were sound asleep, still in the same position as earlier. Sharpay, the devious mind she had, thought of a quick plan that would break up Troy and Gabriella from ever liking each other again. She pulled out her cell phone and took a quick picture of the two. Then, not caring if she woke up Ryan or not, violently shook his awake. He rubbed his eyes a bit and realized that they were home. He unbuckled Peach's seatbelt while Sharpay was walking to the door; Peach ran to Sharpay's feet, anxious to get inside and meet this new "boyfriend" of hers. Ryan unbucked Gabriella's seatbelt and picked her up bridal style out of the car. Sharpay took one more quick picture of the two as Gabriella woke up to find herself in Ryan's arms. She didn't seem to mind being there, as she just shifted a little, turned over, and closed her eyes once more, smiling.

When they got to the into the house, Ryan gently laid Gabriella down on his couch and sat in front of her legs, keeping a hand on her the whole time while he flipped through the channels a little bit before finally settling to watch "Singin' In The Rain". He was just as tired as she was and was soon fast asleep right next to her. When Sharpay walked in the living room a while later after introducing Peach and Boi(and Sharpay had a feeling there were going to be puppies pretty soon, judging by the was they were acting around each other, never leaving each other's side), she found Ryan laying behind Gabriella. They were snuggling so close that not even a piece of paper could have fit between them. Every inch of their bodies were touching, and Ryan had his hand over Gabriella's waist, which she was holding tightly. By the time Sharpay found them like this, Ryan had made up the pull-out bed for Gabriella on his couch(and, usually, no one was allowed on the Evans's couches unless they were either Sharpay, Ryan, or their parents), and had done the same with his dad's couch for himself. He had felt sorry for Gabriella sleeping on the couch while he and Sharpay got their beds, so he had sacrificed his bed to stay with Gabriella. Gabriella had already called her mom, who had said it was okay for her to stay the night over at Sharpay and Ryan's house(as long as they slept seperately, which wasn't working out too well), so she had borrowed a pair of Ryan's pajama pants(the green ones that she liked) and one of his t-shirts to sleep in, and had already gotten settled for the night. Ryan's pull-out bed was no longer needed, obviously, and, to Sharpay, it looked as if Ryan and Gabriella would be sleeping together that night. She hoped they would only be sleeping, but she knew for a fact that both Ryan and Gabriella were too smart to do anything stupid. If she took a picture of them now though, her plan to forever break up Troy and Gabriella would work 100. Getting her cell phone out once again, she snapped a picture and headed up to her bedroom for phase two of her plan.

Once Sharpay got in her bedroom, she found the wire to plug her cell phone into the computer and opened her pictures folder(her computer had a pink, fuzzy moniter). Ryan was about an hour older than she was, so he got the nice, fancy laptop while she got the lame, regular computer. She created a new folder under her pictures, named it "Plan C Pix", and uploaded the three most recent pictures she had taken with her phone into the folder. She logged onto her instant messanger and saw Troy was online. _The sooner, the better,_ Sharpay thought as she began chatting with Troy.

**DramaQueen16:**r u gonna get bak 2gether w/ me or not? its ben ovr a month!

**Bballdude17:**idk it was kinda stressful for me when we were dating, and u know how stress messes up my game

**DramaQueen16:**yah, but that was during skool u dont have games nymore

**Bballdude17:**tru, but i will when we start skool again

**DramaQueen16:**well, i promise i wont put as much stress on u as i waz b4. but will u or not?

**Bballdude17:**i told u idk. bsides i think i found sum1 else i like more than u...if u can believe that

**DramaQueen16:**who montez?

**Bballdude17:**yeah :) 3 and she sent me an e-mail that she liked me, so i think i have another chance with her, if thats ok w/ u

**DramaQueen16:**well, of course its not ok w/ me, cuz i still like u, but i think that u like me more than u like her...the little 2 timer

**Bballdude17:**2timer? wdum? u mean shes cheating on me????

**DramaQueen16:**well, she told me she didnt like u. and she nvr really went out w/ u in the first place, but she likes ryan...still

**Bballdude17:**no she duznt. prove it

**DramaQueen16:**i really dont think u wanna know da proof

**Bballdude17:**please ill b fine, its not like u have pix of them sleeping 2gether or nything...do u?

**DramaQueen16:**actually i do, but i really dont think u wanna c them. just believe me ok i know the real story

**Bballdude17:**how am i supposed to know ur telling the truth...and send me the pix nyway, there cant b anything that bad so that ill actually like hate her or nything is there?

**DramaQueen16:**ok heres the story. she may have sent u that email but i guess then she was trying to decide who she actually liked...cuz then she was laying her head an my bro's shoulder in the car. and then they fell asleep in the car.

She pasted the picture into the message and sent it to Troy.

**DramaQueen16:**then when we got home they were still asleep so i woke up ryan and he carried montez into the house.

She then sent the second picture of them and sent it to Troy as well.

**DramaQueen16:**so then i introduced peach, who she brought over, to our new dog, boi, and when i went back downstairs, i found this, but im not sure if u wanna c it.

**Bballdude17:**the other pictures werent bad, sol how bad could this one be?

**DramaQueen16:**well, u know how i said i had a pic of them sleeping 2gether, well this is it.

And then she sent the third and last picture to Troy.

**DramaQueen16:**and yes they r reel

Plan C was underway, and it seemed like this would be the end of "Troyella". Sharpay noticed that as soon as she sent that last picture, he got offline. As she looked at the pictures once more, she realized what she had done: she had accused her friend of being a two-timer, probably killed her reputation, and possibly made Ryan the only guy that would accept her and the only guy that would know the truth. But the thing was, even he didn't know the truth. Only two people knew the real truth: Sharpay and Gabriella.

Sharpay crept slowly down to the middle of the stairs and looked down on the sleeping couple. She had to admit, they were the second cutest couple she had ever seen(the cutest couple was herself and Troy), and she had risked Gabriella's friendship with Troy jest because she didn't want them to be together. What had she done? She had to call Troy and find a way to undo what she had just done. When she dialed his number, however, it was busy. She hung up, expecting a very nasty phone call to be made to Gabriella. The only thing that woke Gabriella up, however, was a loud beep signaling a text message, which was even worse; it meant that Troy was too mad to even talk to Gabriella. When Gabriella woke up, so did Ryan; she stifled a small yawn while he stretched a little as Gabriella reached over to pick up her phone to read the text. She read it aloud, and Sharpay heard it.

"It's from Troy," Gabriella observed. "It says, 'Get away from Ryan, you...cheating...two-timer?' What?"

"Two timer? What's he talking about? You're not with Troy, are you?" Ryan questioned.

"Of course not! Hang on, I'm getting another text. 'I got your e-mail, so don't deny that you still...like me'" Gabriella read slowly. She was now regretting that she ever sent that e-mail. Because if she liked Troy then, she certianly didn't now, after falling asleep with Ryan next to her all snuggled next to each other like they were.

"You still like Troy? Then why are you sleeping with me?!?!? If you like Troy so much, why don't you just go sleep with him?!?!?" Ryan said, sitting up angrily.

Gabriella sat up as well. "I don't like Troy! I love you, Ryan. I mean it." Suddenly, she saw Sharpay. "Sharpay, do you know anything about these texts?"

"Uh, nope gotta go see ya in the morning have fun sleeping!" Sharpay said quickly as she started up the stairs.

"Wait...right...there," Ryan said, making Sharpay stop in her tracks and turn around. "You will come back here."

Sharpay obediently walked down the stairs and sat on her couch. "Now, Sharpay Evans, do you know about these messages that Gabriella is getting?"

"OK I admit! They're my fault! I took pictures of you and Gabriella and sent them to Troy. But I tried not to! I warned him that he didn't want to see them, but he made me send them. I'm really sorry, guys. Do anything to me you want, punish me as you wish, but I'm am soooooo sorry for sending those pictures. I never should have taken them in the first place. I just wanted to make sure that you didn't end up with Troy, Gabriella. I know the truth, and Ryan, believe her when she says she loves you. She really does." Sharpay was almost crying, but she was holding it back as long as she could.

"Wow, Sharpay," Gabriella said. "You won't have to worry about me getting back together with Troy. Ryan's my boy. You can have Troy. But why didn't you just leave it up to me to deal with him?"

"I don't know, I guess jealousy got the better of me. I could tell that you couldn't decide who you liked, but now I know that you like Ryan. I know it was wrong, guys, and you know what? I'm going to go talk to Troy right now..." Sharpay said, but looked at the clock and saw that it was 1 o'clock in the morning. "...or later and talk to him. I'm truly truly truly sorry. I should have never done it." Then, Sharpay realized something. "Oh, my God, Ryan! Lauren's coming in tomorrow!"

"Yeah, so?" Ryan said.

"She's gonna like Troy! And he's not gonna like me or Montez...and he'll fall for her! We've gotta stop their relationship before it gets ugly!"

"Sharpay," Ryan started. "Calm down! She's not even here yet!"

"You're right. I just need to go upstairs and get some sleep and just worry about it when it happens." She headed upstairs slowly and laid down in her bed, trying to think of what to do. Meanwhile, Ryan and Gabriella were talking downstairs.

"So you don't like Troy, then? You're not cheating on me?"

"Of course not! I couldn't possibly be any luckier than I am now, having you as my boyfriend."

"Thanks, Gabby." He leaned in and kissed her before they cuddled up just like before and fell asleep again. It wasn't long, though, before they were woken up again.

"Ryan! Ryan, wake up!" Sharpay was saying, shaking her brother awake. Ryan just groaned and cuddled closer to Gabriella. "Ryan! Lauren's in the driveway!"


	8. I Love You

That woke Ryan up faster than he had ever woken up before. He jumped up off the couch, nearly pushing Gabriella off. He wouldn't have minded if it was just Lauren, but the fact that Lauren was here meant that Ryan's parents were, too. And he shuddered at the thought of them walking in and finding him asleep with Gabriella.

"What is she doing here?" Ryan asked Sharpay, looking for a place to hide Gabriella. "She isn't supposed to get there until tomorrow!" Gabriella was trying to find a place to hide as well.

"I guess she was early! Duh!" Sharpay said. Ryan was annoyed with Sharpay right now for many reasons. First of all, she almost made him loose his girlfriend, then she woke him up only for him to find that his cousin and his parents were in the driveway and he was sleeping with Gabriella, a girl who neither Lauren or his parents even knew, and now she was just standing there with her arms crossed while Ryan and Gabriella were frantically looking for some kind of idea where Gabriella could hide…for now, at least. Suddenly, Gabriella looked up the stairs.

"Ryan, where is Lauren staying?" she asked.

"Sharpay's room. Why?" Ryan said, ignoring the rude comments being made from Sharpay about how no one told her that Lauren was going to be in her room.

"Well, maybe I could go to your room for a while." Gabriella said. A giant smile spread across Ryan's face and he walked over to Gabriella and hugged her.

"You're a genius! I love you!" he said. "Go ahead and go up. There's a laptop up there if you get bored…you may be in there for a while."

"It's OK, I don't mind," Gabriella said, thinking about what Ryan had said. She slowly climbed the stairs and went into his room. She shut the door behind her and lay face up on Ryan's bed. She thought about what Ryan just said. He said that he loved her. But he didn't mean it in _that_ way did he? _No,_ Gabriella thought to herself._ It's like when I said that I loved Taylor for helping me with that math problem. I didn't mean that I LOVED her; it just meant that I loved her for helping me with the problem. Yeah, that's what Ryan meant, too._ Gabriella was satisfied with her decision and turned over. She could smell Ryan on his sheets. She realized how comfortable his bed was, and closed her eyes, her thoughts swirling around in her head. It wasn't long before she fell sound asleep. Her thoughts must have calmed her because she was still thinking about Ryan as she was dreaming.

_She was sleeping on the couch, Ryan behind her. Gabriella's phone rang as she got a call. She looked at the caller ID: the call was from Troy. She slowly picked it up her phone. "Hello?" she said sleepily. "Gabriella! What are you doing with Ryan? Get away from him you two-timer!!" Troy yelled. Gabriella was confused. "How do you know I'm with Ryan?" "Because I can see you!" Troy yelled. Gabriella turned around, only to see Troy standing behind the couch, which was now in the middle of nowhere. Gabriella jumped off the couch, away from Ryan, who woke up. "What is he doing here?" Ryan asked Gabriella angrily, pointing at Troy. Gabriella opened her mouth, but realized that she could no longer talk. Something was stopping her. She just stood there in the empty white nothingness. The room turned silent, even though Ryan and Troy were yelling. Suddenly, the whole scenario was is slow motion as Troy threw a punch at Ryan. He ducked and started to run, only finding there was nowhere to hide. Even the couch was gone. Gabriella stared at the two and screamed as they continued to fight. Suddenly, she heard a voice. "Gabriella, what's wrong? Are you OK? Gabriella! Wake up!" Everything went black as she opened her eyes to see Ryan standing over her._

"Gabriella!" he said softly. "Are you alright?" She looked around. She was laying in Ryan's room, the couch or the blank whiteness nowhere in sight. She was breathing heavily and noticed she was sweating. Ryan brushed a few hairs out of her face and sparks flew through her body at his touch.

"Ryan, what happened?" she asked, wondering what happened to him. The last time she saw his, he had a black eye and a bloody nose.

"I heard you screaming downstairs. You must've had a bad dream. Luckily, I was the only one who heard you." Ryan said, looking into her eyes.

"How long have I been up here?" she asked, still breathing heavily.

"About 30 minutes. You're scared the heck out of me when I heard you scream. So I ran up here as fast as I could. And I came up and found you screaming. What were you dreaming about anyway?" he asked with concern in her voice.

"Well, we were sleeping on the couch and then my phone rang and then Troy told me to get away from you and then you two started fighting and he almost killed you!" Gabriella said quickly, afraid that is she said it too slow, it would come true.

"Gabby, you know that would never happen. Troy doesn't hate me that much. I mean, he wouldn't kill me! If he really cared about you, he wouldn't do anything to hurt you or me."

"So where's Lauren?" Gabriella asked.

"She's downstairs talking to Sharpay. But I think you'd be able to stay here for a little bit, just not spend the night again."

"Hopefully. I'd like to meet Lauren. But Ryan, I can't get that dream out of my head! What if it comes true? What if he kills you or hurts you really badly! I don't know what I'd do! I couldn't loose you like that!" A tear started to run down Gabriella's cheek.

"Gabriella, stop worrying. That's never going to happen."

"How do you know?" Another tear came down.

Ryan put his hand under her chin and lifted her head up a bit. He leaned in and kissed her. She returned the kiss as he slipped his tongue into her mouth. She gasped a little, but did the same. It was a sweet kiss, but passionate. It was gentle, but they were making out nonetheless. Gabriella's heart raced, finally experiencing the thing she had been wanting to do for months. They slowly broke apart, Gabriella still crying, but now a smile spread across her face.

"Gabriella," Ryan said. "I love you."


	9. Unexpected Surprises

**Unfortunately, I don't own any of the character or anything like that, except for any characters that you don't regognize. Although Corbin's sitting right next to me...he wants to tell everyone hi by the way...that is, of course, if i can get him to quit making out with MoMo. I haven't been able to do that yet. ; )**

Gabriella's heart stopped for a moment. She was speechless.

"Wh-What? What did you say?" Gabriella said, shocked. Had she heard what she thought he had heard? Did Ryan just tell her that he loved her?

"I said I love you, Gabriella." A worried look crossed Ryan's face. Did she not love him?

"Ryan," Gabriella said. "I don't know what to say." She saw the worried look on Ryan's face.

"You could say 'I love you too, Ryan!'" he suggested.

"Ryan," Gabriella started. "I DO love you, but I don't think I'm ready to make any kind of commitment yet. I'm sorry, but I'm not sure I can say I love you back. At least not yet. I'm really sorry Ryan. I want to still be your girlfriend, but I'm just not ready for any kind of real commitment."

"So what are you saying? Are you saying that being my girlfriend isn't really a commitment?"

"No! That's not what I'm saying at all! I'm just saying that I don't think I'm ready for a strong commitment. I'm just trying to say that…I don't know, Ryan. You know what I mean. Why are you making such a big deal out of it?"

"Gabriella, do you know how hard it was for me to say that?!?!?! You have no idea how hard it is to say you love someone and wonder if they feel the same way."

"Ryan, I know how you feel, but I'm just not ready to make any kind of commitment yet."

"So I guess you're saying that you don't want to be my girlfriend anymore either!" Ryan yelled.

"No, Ryan, I really do! I love being with you, Ryan! But I'm not sure about loving anyone right now. I have you, and Troy and-"

"Oh, so now you love Troy now and not me?" Ryan yelled, almost positive that anyone around the house could hear him. Gabriella was on the verge of crying again. Ryan felt horrible about yelling at her like this, but he didn't know how else to get this into her head.

"Ryan," Gabriella cried, "you're taking it the wrong way! I'm not saying that I love Troy, I love you, but it's not like I want to get married or anything. It's not that kind of love!" Gabriella's eyes widened as she realized what she just said. "No, Ryan! That's not what I meant!" She saw the hurt look in his eyes; she had just said that she didn't want to be with him.

"It's not what you meant? Well, what did you mean, then?" Ryan yelled. "You know what? I don't care what you think! If you can't say you love me, then I can't say we're together. We're over!" No word could describe how horrible Ryan felt doing this, but for some reason anger just swelled up inside of him. Anger that he had never felt before. She had said that she wasn't cheating on him with Troy, but just now when she was talking about how she had him and Troy, he wasn't sure what to believe. As Gabriella burst out of the room and ran down the stairs crying her heart out, all he could do was sit on his bed and think about what he had just done. Just then, he heard Sharpay stomping up the stairs and prepared for the worst as she burst through his door.

"Ryan Evans, what the hell did you do to Gabriella!? She just came running down the stairs and she was crying her eyes out!" she screamed. Ryan had never heard her scream at him like this before. It was really scary. "I heard you yelling at her all the way downstairs! What did she do!" She ran over to Ryan and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him up from his bed. "What did YOU do?!?!?!?!"

"Sharpay, I'm sorry! I said something without thinking and I caught her off guard and now she's all upset because I…well,…I just dumped her," Ryan said, looking highly embarrassed at saying this to his sister.

"You WHAT?!?!?!" Sharpay screamed, throwing Ryan back down on his bed. "Ryan, do you know what will happen to her?!?!?!?! She's very unstable right now!! How could you do something like that to her?" She took a deep breath to calm herself down a bit. She was calm for only a second until another girl came in Ryan's room.

"Ryan, Sharpay, what's going on?"

**_OK, yeah I know it's so short, but it's to the point. There wasn't really much I could do to elaborate any more, but I promise the next chapter will be longer, whenever I can think of what to write, type it, and post it up here!_**

**_tootles!_**

**_hsm-fan001_**


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